Mulian Opera

01 · Historical Records

Mulian opera formed first in the Northern Song. Meng Yuanlao's Dongjing Menghua Lu of the Southern Song records: “The musicians of the theatres, after the seventh of the seventh month, performed the zaju Mulian Saves His Mother, and the audience doubled.” Mulian opera came from Kaifeng to Nanle in Henan in the Song. Nanle Mulian opera is an oral version circulating among the people of Nanle county, Henan; in plot, thought and main characters it is in direct line with the Tang Mulian bianwen. Drawing on local materials, Nanle lies at the junction of Hebei, Shandong and Henan; its remoteness long kept the genre's archaic and primitive appearance.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Mulian opera is an operatic performance preserved within folk activities, named for its main portrayal of the story of Mulian saving his mother. The story first appears in Buddhist scripture, its content roughly as follows: Fu Xiang spent his life relieving the orphaned and poor and giving alms to monks and Daoists, and after ascending to heaven was ennobled; his wife Liu Qingti disrespected the gods, broke the precepts and slaughtered animals, and after death was cast into the underworld; her son Fu Luobo went west to seek the Buddha's deliverance for his mother, was allowed to enter the monastic order as Mahamaudgalyayana and given the Ullambana Sutra and a tin staff, and after every danger in hell finally found his mother, the family reunited and ascending. Over several centuries, tempered by countless artists, Mulian opera, with its vast dramatic forms, all-embracing means, deeply accumulated music and interactive staging, was performed without cease among the people and once spread widely across Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Shanxi, Fujian and Henan. Mulian opera takes its name from Mulian the Monk Saves His Mother and is China's oldest operatic genre, worthy of being called the ancestor of drama. By the Ming there was Zheng Zhizhen's Mulian Saving His Mother Exhortation-to-Virtue Playscript, and in the Kangxi reign it entered the palace, the imperial household also staging it. Zhang Zhao's chuanqi Quanshan Jinke likewise took as its main plot the wrong suffered by Mulian's mother, cast into hell for her evil, and the seeking of the Buddha's aid to save her. Nanle lies at the junction of Hebei, Shandong and Henan; in ancient times poor transport and a remote location kept this operatic form's archaic and primitive appearance, its performance and dramatic conventions all bearing traces of traditional culture. The play is based on folk acrobatics, combining opera, martial arts, fireworks and magic, distinctive in costume, props, make-up and performance, and because it was long hidden among the people it still keeps a rough, primitive aspect. Nanle lies at the junction of the three provinces, and its remoteness long kept the genre's archaic and primitive appearance.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Nanle lies at the junction of Hebei, Shandong and Henan and is relatively remote, which has long kept Nanle Mulian opera's archaic and primitive aspect; the Nanle County Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Centre is responsible for the project's protection.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Mulian Opera · Mulian Opera · Mulian Opera · Mulian Opera · Mulian Opera.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Mulian opera is called “a living fossil of Chinese drama”, of high academic value for the study of the origins, evolution and transmission of Chinese drama, and also providing precious material for the study of Chinese historiography, literary history and folk culture. Zhang Zhanliang (as recorded in the official dossier of an associated inheritor): male, Han, born in 1949 in Nanle, Henan. Three generations of Zhang Zhanliang's forebears took part in Mulian opera; deeply influenced from childhood, he mastered its performance and lines, and in 1962 took as his master Su Shangzhi, fifth-generation transmitter of Nanle Mulian opera. After several years he mastered all its performance, music, special skills and props, becoming expert in making its various props and some instruments, and thoroughly mastering such blood-showing feats as “eating fire” and “sawing and grinding” and such unique skills as smoke, sound effects and facial designs. He is a representative inheritor of Mulian opera (Nanle Mulian opera) in the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects. He Shuge (as recorded in the official dossier of an associated inheritor): male, Han, born in 1934 in Nanle, Henan. In 1947 He Shuge took the Mulian opera artist Su Shangzhi as his master, learning the singing and movement of such roles as little ghost, Earth God and King of Hell, and from 1962 played Liu-shi, also mastering the singing, lines and performance skills of all the roles. He inherited the traditional performing style, his movements rough and bold, his singing free and his voice resonant, keeping Nanle Mulian opera's archaic performing aspect to this day. He is a representative inheritor of Mulian opera (Nanle Mulian opera) in the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

• Wangzhangsong 02-0647
• Ye Yangzi 02-0648
• Zhou Jianbin 02-0649
• Xie Yaowen 02-0650
• Zhang Zhanliang 02-0651
• He Shuge 02-0652
• Wang Qiulai 05-2396
• Zou Lili 05-2397
• Tian Min
• Wang Shilong
• Ye Zhengchu

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Mulian Opera (Nanyue, Henan) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Zhang Zhanliang · National Representative Bearer Archive
3. He Shuge · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗